The invention involves the proactive diagnosis of load and interference (e.g. radio, load) placed on a communication network and/or distributed system through detection of the occupancy of certain people and/or devices present within the area covered by the system.
In the current state of the art, network and other distributed systems are used in various settings to provide voice and data communication and/or connectivity to the devices and people within the coverage area of the system. These systems enable various electronic devices to connect to the system and send and receive voice and data communications via the system.
While the particular system employed at any given location is designed with the number and types of devices to be handled by the network during normal parameters, the system capabilities are also designed to handle increased loads above the perceived “normal” usage. This is accomplished by providing the system with an overall or built-in capacity or band-width above the predetermined “normal” usage or load that is expected to be placed on the system to accommodate the times of increased usage.
In addition, these systems are also configured to self-diagnose problems that occur within the system, such as situations where one or more components of the system fails or otherwise becomes inoperable. With systems of this type, the system can diagnose the source of the problem and subsequently repair or address the problem in an automated manner, such as by rerouting signals through available stand-by system components.
In performing these automatic diagnostic functions, the system is reactive with respect to failure modes occurring in the system, i.e., the system will diagnose and address a problem after the problem has been detected by the system. As a result, these systems necessarily have some effective downtime, even if the systems can employ a stand-by component, as the designed full capacity of the system is not available until the problem has been remedied.
Further, with the quantity of mobile devices being carried by individuals in virtually any setting, radio interference from these mobile devices can cause issues with communication between the system and low power devices located within the system coverage area. Also, the volume of information (i.e., data and voice) being handled in the system coverage area due to usage of items such as mobile devices and voice over internal Protocol (VoIP) phones, which can include data downloading and streaming, as well as other uses, can also place undue burden on the bandwidth for the system.
In prior art systems, the usage of the system can be detected and accommodated for by the system. However, these systems are only be reactive to the detected demands on the bandwidth of the system. As such, while the system is operating to adjust the ability of the system to accommodate the increased usage, this delay can result in loss of any information sought to be obtained through the system.
Accordingly, it is desirable to develop a communication network and/or system that is capable of proactively diagnosing the coverage and corresponding potential usage of the bandwidth of the system, in order to accommodate increased demand on the system.